Land Rights in India: Contemporary Legal and Policy Challenges

The article analyses current challenges to property rights in India, focusing on land acquisition, property disputes, encroachment, eviction and issues related to awareness and access to legal resources. It aims to evaluate the effectiveness of existing legal and policy interventions in protecting property rights, especially for marginalised communities. The article employs a comprehensive review of relevant legislation, case law and scholarly literature. It examines key issues through case studies and analysis of judicial interventions, providing an interdisciplinary perspective on property rights in India. It also reveals significant challenges in India’s property rights system, including inadequate compensation for land acquisition, protracted legal disputes, widespread encroachment and forced evictions affecting marginalised communities. It highlights the lack of awareness and limited access to legal resources as major impediments to protecting property rights. The article also finds that while recent legislative efforts have attempted to address these issues, improper implementation remains a problem. This article offers a holistic examination of property rights challenges in contemporary India, synthesising legal, social and economic perspectives. It provides original insights into the interplay between formal legal structures and informal property ownership, and proposes innovative solutions to enhance awareness and access to legal resources. The article contributes to the ongoing debate on balancing development needs with the protection of individual and community property rights in India.